Education gap remains for Indigenous students

Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett says he is again concerned about the performance of Indigenous students in the latest national school test results.

The national report of this year's NAPLAN testing shows that more than 92 per cent of Year 5 school students met minimum standards.

But, on average, Indigenous student scores in reading and numeracy were two to three years behind those of other students.

Mr Garrett says the overall results underline the need for a national overhaul of schooling.

"A particular concern, I think, is the big gap between Indigenous students, and particularly Indigenous students in remote Australia, and other Australian students," he said.

"Here we clearly have to have a significant, focused effort on making sure that their educational results are improved."

Mr Garrett says there has been a significant overall improvement in reading and numeracy results for Year 5 students since the tests were introduced in 2008.

But underperforming groups remain.

"We are not seeing a closing of the gap between either Indigenous students or students from low socio-economic backgrounds," he said.

"We are not seeing a closing of the gap between students who have got parental influences which are positive against those who don't.

"And maths teaching in the primary years, we are clearly not doing as well as we need to."

Northern Territory Education Minister John Elferink says he is not surprised by poor results in remote Indigenous schools.

Mr Elferink says education won't improve until job prospects do.

"There's not much point for a lot of these people who live in remote communities in getting a good education when there's no job at the end of it," he said.

"It doesn't have any sort of relevance to what they know and experience on a day to day level.

"Education cannot occupy a space in a vacuum.

"It must have some sort of relevance to the space around it."

Mr Elferink says he believes government welfare programs are also contributing to poor educational outcomes in remote Indigenous communities.

"The disengagement is not only amplified but I would go so far as to say that the disengagement is extended far beyond what it should be because of the sedentary results of welfare payments," he said.

He says the problem extends far beyond the school system.

"What we need in these remote communities are schools that work, health clinics that work, real jobs generated by private investment and a welfare system that recognises that there needs to be an effort needs to be made both in remote communities and, of course, in our larger centres as well," he said.